Yes. Yes, I was.
Next to me, Fagan sighed. “I’m sorry, my dear. I am here because I told Acantha I would visit you and determine how dangerous I thought you might be. I thought this would be a comfortable place for a conversation.”
A bright red bird flew into a small bush that still had deep green leaves. A scarlet tanager. The same kind of bird I’d first seen on the day I came here. I’d found it in my father’s book. It flitted around the bush, pecking at bugs while I spoke. “It is a nice spot. Why don’t you ask me everything you’ve wondered, and I’ll just tell you. It would be easier than both of us trying to guess at each other’s thoughts. Then you can hear all my answers and judge them for yourself.”
Amusement filled his voice. “What if you enchant your answers so I’m persuaded to look past the most superficial information?”
I shrugged. “I can’t actually do that. But if you can’t believe anything I say because you think that I can, I don’t know how a conversation will help you.”
He followed my gaze to the bird. “I believe the tanagers are one of the species that cross the borders between our lands and the humans. Chipper little things, aren’t they?”
“Are you a fan of birds, Fagan?”
“I’ve been around long enough to be a fan of many things.” He brought his gaze back to me. “I’m not actually aninterrogator, Callista. I’m an observer. I came into Hemlit many decades ago as a spy for Floren, but I grew tired of the pettiness of the work. I told King Fintan—Aedan’s father—my assignment, and we made a new arrangement.”
“You told the king you were spying on him?”
“It sounds absurd when you say it like that, but yes.” The older elf smiled. “I wanted to go home to my family.”
“Did he let you?”
“He did. I stayed for some time to gather the information I’d been assigned, but eventually I went home. When Aedan’s parents died, I came back to see if I could be of assistance to the new king. I knew him well and… I was concerned he would not have the support he needed.”
I studied him. “What do you mean?”
He met my eyes. “Fintan was a fair king, but he emphasized the importance of a king’s duties to his son. He assumed Aedan would naturally tend to be benevolent because of his sweet mother, so he drilled him in duty and justice. They died far too soon, long before Aedan had time to realize that Fintan made exceptions for every rule.”
So Aedan’s honorable monster had been drilled into him by his father? I wished the man were still alive so I could shake him. Thoughts of my own father filled my head—singing to me, laughing with me, walking with me, holding me. “Did his father love him?” I asked.
“He did.” Fagan tapped a finger on his knee a few times. “But he did not show it in a way that would encourage Aedan to be… soft.” A drekkan cry arched across the sky. We both glanced toward it. “Aedan shows he cares about people by protecting them.”
I turned my eyes back to Fagan. “Why would you tell me this?”
He met my eyes. “Because Aedan cares about you.”
A warm, melty feeling filled my stomach and fluttered up into my chest. Aedan’s words from last night replayed in my mind.I will not let anybody hurt you.Was it possible? Could the terrifying and powerful elf king have something as human as feelings for me?
And if so, why would Fagan care? “I still don’t see how that brings us here,” I said.
Fagan’s sweet, gentle smile tipped his eyes up. “It brings us here because Acantha saw it and worried. I saw it, and it gave me hope.”
My eyebrows shifted together. “Hope for what?”
“Hope that you can help him heal. He has not been the same since his parents died.”
I wanted to be more sympathetic, but his words only reminded me of my own loss. “Neither have I.”
His head turned, curious. “When did your parents die?”
“Thirteen years ago.”
“Thirteenyears ago?”
Clearly he recognized the date. “Yes, thirteen years ago. And since Aedan has clearly not told you yet, it was my mother that cursed him.”
His jaw dropped. “Did you know?”
“No.” The air suddenly felt more chilled, so I drew the jacket tighter around me and turned away. “He only told me a little more than a week ago.” I broke the growing silence with a clarification. “And technically, my father died two yearsbefore that.”
